


Home Now

by CrusnikRoxas



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A found family, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury struggles, Mental Health Issues, Protective Papyrus, Protective Sans, Recovery, Starvation, They just want the smol child to be happy :'(, a tale of hunger and woes, and hugs, lots of hugs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-02-15 19:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18676291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrusnikRoxas/pseuds/CrusnikRoxas
Summary: Despite living on the surface and a part of society at last, Sans can't bring himself to feel happy - hell, he can't even bring himself to sleep. As a matter of fact, all that truly features in his life is the happiness of his brother....a thing that he is more than satisfied with.Or, at least, he thought that he was.One small human child was about to change his and his brother's lives forever.





	1. A Spaghetti Feast

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commission from the lovely Alextris! ^-^  
> There's going to be a few dark themes, so please read the tags - but rest assured, this will be a predominantly healing tale of fluff and family :3  
> With that said, I hope you enjoy! <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Papyrus has a plan...

The ceiling was as it always was.

As a matter of fact, it was the only space in Sans’ room that could be called clean; maybe that was why he ‘enjoyed’ staring at it as much as he did.

The singular red orb hanging in his socket narrowed, a small irritated puff of air escaping through his gritted teeth - it had been yet another sleepless night, yet another night of staring up at the same fucking ceiling.

Ultimately giving up on the pointless task, he sat up, the worn out mattress beneath him squeaking angrily in protest. His head rang and his vision swayed; 6 nights of ceiling staring. He was approaching his all time record, and that wasn’t something positive.

 

**Not a good thing. Bad.**

 

“SANS!”

The ringing in his skull only seemed to increase at the boom of Papyrus’ voice outside his door, but Sans wasn’t about to complain – if anything, a bit of social interaction was a blessing after hours upon hours of silence, his thoughts serving as the only thing keeping him company.

 

**Not a good thing. Bad.**

 

“...hey paps.”

The voice on the other side of the door went quiet for the longest of times, before said door swung open; Papyrus warily poked his head through the doorway, wringing his hands, sunken sockets worriedly examining Sans.

 

**...not a good thing. Bad.**

 

“….SANS? YOU...DIDN’T SLEEP AGAIN?”

Sans chuckled ever so slightly, hand beside him twitching as he restrained himself from picking at his itching socket – damage caused years of clawing at it was just starting to heal over, and Papyrus would be disappointed if he ruined that.

“...nah….heh….you...could say it’s making….me...”

Papyrus froze, watching with an oddly hopeful expression as Sans paused – he _knew_ this joke. He’d practised it, just for this moment; practised over and over in front of the mirror, he just had to remember the….

 

_The punch line….what was…_

 

“ _...deep-rest._ Heh.”

Papyrus let s out a  gentle snort, sockets brightening with pride for the barest of moments – before his expression practically becomes thunderous,  shoulders hunching as he stomped his foot . He strode across the room,  muttering about how ‘distasteful’ a joke it was as he  snatch es Sans up by the back of his hoodie, slinging the body of his brother over his shoulder. Sans didn’t so much as flinch; after all, this was one of the things about the surface that he had come to enjoy. Though the contact between him and his brother could be….a little rough at times, it was something that had been lost in the madness of the Underground –  towards  the end, Papyrus had be afraid to touch him, and Sans hadn’t blamed him in the least.

One ghost of the past that the surface had chased away. Of course, it couldn’t fix what was broken beyond repair, Sans knew that, but…

...he was happy to see Papyrus happy.

Still, that didn’t mean that the surface hadn’t been an utter bitch at times; when they’d first emerged from the mountain, the monsters had been faced with pity and kindness (and fear, but many of the humans attempted to be ‘commendable’ and shove it down) – something which many of them welcomed, but….

 

...Sans wasn’t one of them.

 

He hated pity.

 

Hated the looks of ‘oh, you poor soul’, he received.

 

Still, even with the kindness, the humans weren’t stupid; before being allowed into public life, they had each been placed into rehabilitation programs, counselling….and in the cases like his brother, surgery to assist with any damaged received in the Underground.

Yet another thing Sans had felt oddly bitter about – there was nothing to be done for his particular ‘ailment’. Yes, he was pleased that his brother had been able to receive braces to help straighten his broken, crooked teeth, and glasses to assist his poor eye-sight, but….

...Sans mourned the loss of his mind. His memory. The ability to articulate without having to pause to think.

Still, it had improved somewhat with the training his doctors had suggested, even Sans had to begrudgingly admit that. He did not, however, have any faith whatsoever in the psychologists that had attended to him, shaking behind their clipboards after ever session with him – wasn’t talking about the past supposed to help? All those pointless exercises, all those notes, all those questions…

 

...and yet, he still couldn’t sleep.

 

Not that it mattered much to him – he’d sleep eventually, he knew he would. Eventually, his body would just...give up, as it always did.

However, the cycle beginning anew after sleeping for a day or two always sucked. Looking up at the same ceiling every night was starting to get dull – it had been kind of nice, when they’d first moved in; every monster family had been issued with their own house, a promise that had been made to monsterkind before they’d been muscled into  rehabilitation. Another thing that didn’t matter to Sans, but at least it had been nice for Papyrus – they had more than enough gold to live on, and the house around them was truly _theirs_ .  Monsters had rights, monsters had homes, food...y es, Papyrus was happy. 

Something that Sans was not pleased about, however, was the way the humans in the area treated his brother – the looks of fear, the panicked crossing over the streets. Oh, of course, they were nothing but polite, forcing smiles when spoken to-

-but it didn’t stop Papyrus from noticing. Papyrus was sharp, intelligent – and incredibly talented at reading people, even if he didn’t immediately show it. Something that had worked so well in the Underground, during the ‘puzzles’ that always ended with Sans-

 

**Not a good thing. Bad.**

 

….Papyrus noticed the humans looking like that, and it clearly upset him. And that in turn, of course, upset Sans – his brother’s happiness was paramount to him after all the shit they’d been through. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say it had been _hell_ down there.

...did that count as a pun? A joke?…..maybe. He’d need to remember that one.

“SANS? BROTHER, ARE YOU QUITE FINISHED WITH YOUR BLANK STARING INTO SPACE? I HAVE PREPARED THE MOST NUTRITIOUS OF BREAKFASTS, AFTER ALL. IT’S...IN FRONT OF YOU. LOOK DOWN….YES, THAT’S RIGHT.”

The red orb hanging in Sans’ socket trailed slowly down to the steaming, enormous platter of blueberry pancakes in front of him – and the room around him seemed to freeze for the barest of moments. Papyrus backed off a step, hiding his own plate behind his back.

 

_..food?_

 

_**...food.** _

 

He all but fell upon his meal, teeth tearing into the buttery richness, the sweet berries encased within popping deliciously in his mouth – he chewed, swallowed, taking another mouthful, another, another…..

….he blinked.

….he looked up at Papyrus apologetically.

“….m’sorry, paps. i….i just...”

Papyrus scoffed at that, quickly waving a gloved hand in dismissal, seating himself at last; he eyed his own pancakes for a moment – before slowly picking up his fork, cutting a small piece, and methodically chewing it.

Papyrus had come in leaps and bounds in comparison to Sans regarding control around food – of course, Sans was much improved compared to how he used to be (the humans in control of feeding him had soon leant to wear protective clothing of some kind), but that didn’t mean he was perfect. Yes, now he could resist the urge to leap on anyone in the street, but…

...well, it was easier when he’d had a large breakfast, a fact that Papyrus knew well.

“….this….is….really good.”

“WHY, OF COURSE IT IS! I MADE IT, AFTER ALL. AND SPEAKING OF MY TRULY WONDROUS COOKERY MASTERY...”

Papyrus paused, waving a hand in front of Sans’ face – the red orb followed the movement, showing that Sans was indeed present, and currently not trapped inside his thoughts. Letting out a satisfied noise, Papyrus pointed down at the pancake remains on Sans’ plate.

“EAT. THAT WAY YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY HEAR MY MELODIC VOICE WHEN I EXPLAIN TODAY’S PLANS.”

Sans did as he was told, grin twitching for the first few mouthfuls; his concentration was never fantastic, and it only got worse with lack of sleep – but hell, he was trying.

“YOU KNOW THE ORPHANAGE A FEW BLOCKS AWAY? THE ONE BY THAT GROCERY STORE THAT YOU HATE?”

….he remembered that place, yes. The owner had started to cry over how ‘painful’ the crack in Sans’ skull looked – he’d only wanted a pint of milk.

...oh, no, wait, he was talking about the orphanage. Focus on the orphanage.

“….yeah. i know it.”

“...GOOD. WELL, I HAVE EXCITING NEWS, BROTHER! I HAVE FOUND THE PERFECT SOLUTION TO OUR LACK OF HUMAN FRIENDS PROBLEM!”

“….oh, yeah?….what’s….that, then?”

“THROUGH THE METHOD OF CHARITY, OF COURSE! AND WHAT IS MORE CHARITABLE THAN TREATING THE SMALLER HUMANS TO MY TRULY MAGNIFICENT COOKING?”

After a moment of simply staring, Sans lets out a small chuckle, shrugging his shoulders as he takes another generous bite of pancake.

“...that’s….great, bro. great….plan.”

“I KNOW IT IS! SO YOU WILL NEED TO CHANGE YOUR CLOTHING FOR ONCE, BROTHER – AND NO, I DO NOT MEAN GETTING INTO THE SHOWER WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON. THE SMALLER HUMANS WILL NOT APPRECIATE SOAKING WET SKELETON MONSTERS – THEY WANT DRY ONES, I AM MOST CERTAIN OF THIS FACT.”

“….wait…. _what?_ ”

“CLOTHING! FRESH, CLEAN CLOTHING! FOR TODAY – SMALL ORPHANAGE HUMANS, REMEMBER BROTHER?”

S ans blinked.

“….you….can’t just turn up there.”

“OH, I KNOW. I CONTACTED THE OWNER THE OTHER DAY. AND, OF COURSE, THEY SAW HOW WONDERFUL AN OPPORTUNITY IT WOULD BE TO MEET MY FINE SKELETAL SELF IN THE NON-EXISTENT FLESH – LEAPT AT THE CHANCE WITH ONLY THE SLIGHTEST, TEENIEST MOMENTS OF HESITATION. TELEPHONE CONVERSATIONS ALWAYS SEEM TO GO SMOOTHER.”

Sans grit his teeth, biting into a slice of pancake a bit harder than he’d like to admit. Still, that small ‘success’ of Papyrus’ left him with a problem.

...had he remembered to wash clothes? He’d need to make a note of it, of the day that Papyrus had this whole thing planned out.

Had he….said the date? Sans didn’t think that he had.

“….what day.”

“HMM?”

“….the….day. of the orphanage thing.”

“WHAT’S TODAY?”

Sans hesitated, thinking it over; a flash of recognition flittered across his face as he remembered to look to the calender to check.

“….wednesday.”

“THEN WEDNESDAY. AS IN TODAY. THIS WEDNESDAY.”

Sans’ gaze locked onto Papyrus’ at that, his mouth opening, closing, then opening again.

“….what?”

“YOU HEARD ME, BROTHER! _TODAY_. I ALREADY HAVE THE SPAGHETTI SAUCE COOKING DOWN, AND THAT MEANS YOU WILL HAVE….TWO HOURS TO GET YOURSELF RESPECTABLE.”

Sans inwardly swore, turning his attention as quickly as he was able back down to his pancakes – apathy slid into his bones like a dead-weight, his usual technique for dealing with human interaction.

Pasting a twitching grin onto his features, he ate some more pancake, ignoring how the food now felt like ashes in his mouth.

“….sure, bro.”

 

~

 

Fortunately, Sans _had,_ by some small miracle, actually remembered to do the washing (despite not remembering to wear the fresh clothing when he’d actually washed it at the time – small mercies), so the wrath of Papyrus was appeased….for now.

The trip to the orphanage sadly had a rocky start, however – humans had openly stared as the skeleton brothers had made their way down the streets, large pots of spaghetti sauce in hand, empty saucepans for the noodles clanging at their sides. Whether they had been staring due to them being monsters, or carrying a ridiculous amounts of cookware didn’t matter to Sans; he was twitching and jerking by the time they reached the grey stone building, grin strained and wide as he fought with the thoughts he wished didn’t exist.

Papyrus, however, hadn’t let the staring humans bother him one bit, practically bouncing in excitement as he rang the bell – the human behind the door, however, was less than pleased as they opened the door, the blood practically draining out of their face as they realised who was ringing.

“...ah. You must be...Papyrus?”

“INDEED, MISS ORPHANAGE OWNER HUMAN!”

The human in question winced as Papyrus screamed a little louder than usual in his elation, but quickly pasted on a shaky grin. They tried to offer the same polite smile to Sans, but quickly gave up that effort – Sans already knew that his gaze was far from friendly, but it honestly didn’t matter to him what this human female thought of him. What mattered was Papyrus being excited, happy. That was all that mattered.

“...well, y-yes, that would be me. Let’s...get you to the kitchen, yes? I see that you have a lot of food, there..”

Papyrus was plainly ignoring the apprehension on the human’s features, chattering away joyfully over his secret recipe as he was led to the kitchen, Sans dragging his heels behind; the orphanage was sparse, but clean, a thing he could vaguely appreciate, considering the chaos his bedroom had become.

The kitchen was much the same – gleaming steel counter-tops and various ovens, something which only excited Papyrus all the more, considering how small the kitchen back at home was in comparison.

He immediately flew into action, grasping up the pots of sauce to re-heat, urgently pouring water into others to cook up the noodles. Sans was more than content to watch the whirl-wind formerly known as Papyrus, but that small moment of peace was quickly ruined when the human thought it was a good idea to engage him in conversation.

“So…do you like cooking as much as your brother? It’s really nice what the two of you are doing, we appreciate-”

The red orb serving as his eye-light snapped over to the woman, quickly shutting her up.

“….it’s….my bro. not _me._ ”

She blinked, gulped, laughed nervously – the forced pleasantry made him feel vaguely sick. Dishonesty had always been bad in his book.

“O-oh! Well. Um. We still really appreciate it! It’s very kind.”

“...he...is. kind, i mean. that’s….papyrus.”

Her grin was overly bright as he struggled with his words; it obviously bothered her on some level, but Sans was more than used to that by now.

“...ah. Yes! He seems to be.”

“he….is.”

The human coughed awkwardly under her breath, gaze straying over to Papyrus rushing about the kitchen for a moment.

“...right. Anyway, everyone will be waiting in the dining hall. It’s the door just next to the kitchen, ok?”

Sans frowned – he’d remember that, right? Surely he would.

He merely nods in answer, red orb fixed on every movement the human made, waiting eagerly for her to leave – and leave she does, calling out a gentle farewell to Papyrus, insisting she’d be waiting in the dining hall with the others as she slips out of the room, fleeing down the hallway. Sans wasn’t entirely should she would be, and really didn’t care either way.

“SANS! GRAB SOME SALT OUT OF THE CUPBOARD FOR ME!”

He blinked, heading over to the cupboard in question – opening up the doors, he stared at the innards for a long moment, before sighing.

“….what….did you want, again?”

“SALT. PLEASE.”

After a small noise of recognition, he picked it up, shuffling his way over; Papyrus absently grabbed the container, sprinkling it over the water to flavour the pasta. Setting the salt aside, he carefully patted Sans’ shoulder, viciously stirring the sauce with his other arm.

“THERE IS NO NEED TO BE NERVOUS, BROTHER!”

Sans’ expression instantly fell into a frown – but he couldn’t disagree with his brother. That would mean talking about how the humans didn’t really want them there, and that would make Papyrus sad.

“IT WILL ALL GO SWIMMINGLY, YOU’LL SEE! NOW, IF YOU COULD PASS ME THOSE NOODLES-”

The rest of the food preparation seemed to fade into a soft haze for Sans – staring at the bubbling water was oddly soothing to his mind, and Papyrus was more than content to stand by and allow him to stare, even if he was under the impression that Sans was simply ‘nervous’.

Carrying the various pots to the dining hall was a fairly simple task, as was placing said pots on the table containing various bowls and cutlery, ready to be filled with the meal Papyrus had painstakingly prepared.

What was not simple, however, was Sans dealing with the shocked, terrified stares of the children in the room – while the adults at least _attempted_ to be respectful, the children had no such thoughts, many of them open-mouthed with shock.

Papyrus, however, is anything but discouraged by this.

“GREETINGS, SMALL HUMANS! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, I HAVE PREPARED A WONDROUS SPAGHETTI MEAL FOR YOU TO CONSUME!”

The hall is deathly silent, something that instantly had Sans twitching in discomfort – he knew that Papyrus’ happy expression would fall soon, and they’d be kicked out, and his brother would be sad about this for days-

 

**Not a good thing. Bad.**

 

Suddenly, the silence of the room is broken by the scrape of a chair – a small, unassuming boy walks up to the monsters with clear hesitance in his eyes; Sans couldn’t quite understand it. Why bother to come up to them at all if it was so distressing?

The child blinks up at Papyrus’ form towering above him – before a strangely bright smile appears on his face. Sans can only feel mute shock at this fact; after all, this was a _genuine_ expression, something he hadn’t seen a human pull for a good while (well, unless you counted the fear and discomfort).

“...um, hi, Papyrus! My name is Andrew! But my friends call me Andy.”

The boy slowly holds out his hand, smile brightening all the more. Papyrus instantly stoops to the child’s level, making them jump a little – but they begin to giggle as Papyrus eagerly shakes their hand, grinning just as bright as the boy in front of him.

“HELLO, SMALL HUMAN ANDREW!”

“Hehehe, you can call me Andy, if you want!”

“GASP! COULD THIS MEAN….THAT WE’RE ALREADY FRIENDS?!”

Papyrus looks just about ready to cry as the boy nods eagerly, launching into speech over how cool he found skeletons (Sans wasn’t quite sure what a ‘Skeletor’ was, but this boy sure seemed to like them), and how nice the spaghetti Papyrus made smelt – normally, Sans would have assumed sarcasm, but the kid was so painfully genuine and excited…

...Sans chuckled, noting that the other children had begun to surge forward, terrified expressions morphing into excitement and curiosity, giggles echoing across the room as Papyrus shook hand after hand.

Soon, Sans found himself alone and leaning against a wall, watching his brother sitting with an expression of absolute joy, surrounded by the majority of the human children, who were all chattering away excitedly to him as they ate the meal he had provided, seeking every ounce of his attention. Sans couldn’t help the ghost of a smile on his features – being feared Underground hadn’t mattered to them, but once they had reached the surface….Papyrus had been plagued with discomfort over his gangly, ‘unnerving’ appearance. To see such genuine affection being all but thrown at him….it gave Sans a warm feeling. Perhaps this orphanage gig wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

However, one thing caught his concern.

 

Not all the children seemed interested in meeting Papyrus.

 

But then, it seemed that she wasn’t interested in _anything_ going on around her – the small, oddly skinny child was sat alone at a table in the corner of the room, staring blankly into space, her gaze hollow and empty.

Strangely, Sans found himself feeling curious, especially considering she wasn’t even eating; casually, he walked up to the human who had opened the door to them originally, only feeling mildly irked when she winces at his approach. Hell, it wasn’t as if he wanted to talk to her – he just wanted to know why the kid was so….out of place.

“...that...girl. why isn’t she...eating? this is a...dining hall, right?”

The adult human’s expression sours slightly, a forced sigh leaving her as she looks over in the direction of the strange child.

“Oh. Well, that one doesn’t eat with the others.”

...now, _this_? This ticked Sans off far more than the thinly veiled looks of fear at his presence. Growling under his breath, he stalks away over to the serving table without another word – gathering up a generous bowl of spaghetti, he heads over to the child determinedly, red orb blazing in his socket.

 

_No way in hell was he going to sit by and let someone else go hungry._

 

However, when he finally approaches the table in question, he slows; the girl hadn’t so much as flinched at his hurried arrival, her gaze blankly staring forward, just as it had been since he’d first spotted her.

Carefully, he places the bowl on the table in front of her with a dulled clunk, watching cautiously for any signs of fear – after all, compared to Papyrus, Sans had no hope in hell of not scaring others.

But the child doesn’t even seem to notice him or his appearance, her eyes snapping down to the food in front of her, lips parting in a sudden gasp.

 

Sans knew that look all too well.

 

The child practically fell on the plate in front of her, ignoring the cutlery he’d thoughtfully brought with him, simply tearing in the meal ravenously with her tiny hands – the other humans nearby winced and edged away, clear disgust on their features. Sans felt the corners of his mouth twitching in reaction, anger rising in his chest – didn’t these people know what hungry looked like?

Abruptly turning on his heel to get the poor kid some water, he saw that the adult human female had followed him, expression grim as they too stared at the child devouring their meal; he snarled in reaction.

“...d-don’t….you feed...this kid?! she’s starving!”

“...she’s not. She got here around two weeks ago….believe me, was in a worse state then. Whenever she gets near food, this is how she reacts – it’s simply not safe for the other children to be around, which is why-”

“not….safe? are you...kidding me?!”

To make a point, Sans abruptly sits down next to the child, glaring up at the adult human as he does so; which is perhaps why he doesn’t react as fast as he should have. The child starts, eyes wide as she pauses in her desperate shovelling – with a panicked yelp, she reaches out-

 

-and bites down hard on Sans’ arm, tiny hands gripping onto the bowl in front of her, drawing it close to her skinny body.

 

The adult gasps, making yank the child off of him, her expression thunderous as she mutters about ‘control being impossible with this kid’ - but one hard glare from Sans has her backing away, hands raised submissively, breath stuttering in surprise at the unbridled rage in his stare.

A rage that was directed at her, and her alone – as Sans focuses back on the small, shivering child still clamped on his arm, his expression softens into something almost mournful.

“...hey. it’s….ok. i’m not….touching it, it’s yours. would….you like some more? there’s….plenty.”

The child’s body shakes all the more, teeth clenching against his arm as her eyes flick up to meet his gaze – eyes that were filled with uncertainty. Sans’ expression softens more so than ever, the red orb in his socket pulsing dully as he looked down at her.

“…it’s ok. you can...eat.”

After another long moment of simply staring up at him, her shaking seems to settle into tiny quivers, jaws slowly releasing his arm from their hold – Sans doesn’t so much as wince. Her miniature teeth were far too small to leave any kind of mark…she hadn’t even made it through the material of his hoodie.

Sans suddenly realises that Papyrus had, at some point, joined the small audience watching – his brother slowly slides another steaming bowl of spaghetti onto the table in front of the child, gaze kind, smile gentle.

“It’s Alright, Tinier Human. We Only _Give_ Food – No Taking Away Here, Nyeh Heh Heh!”

 

...for the first time, emotion flickers across the girl’s face; a desperate sorrow settles on her features, eyes filling with tears as she regards the pasta in front of her.

 

When she finally speaks, her voice is just as small as she is, such a stark comparison to Papyrus’ booming tone.

“I’m...I’m sorry.”

“….don’t be. it’s...not your fault. we…get it.”

Carefully, she wipes away her tears, and begins to eat again, much slower than before, closing closing as she finally savoured the taste instead of just shovelling it in mindlessly – Papyrus lets out an approving, ‘nyeh’, moving away in order to distract the other children and give the girl some peace. Sans, however, silently stays by her, red orb carefully watching as mouthful after mouthful vanishes from the bowls in front of her, until her eating finally slows to a stop, her hunger finally sated.

It’s then, and only then, that she seems to realise that he’s still sat beside her; she blinks, her blank, unflinching gaze once again returning to his.

The corners of her mouth are stained red with sauce as she looks up at him with the ghost of the same melancholy that had been present her features earlier, her eye-lids drooping with exhaustion; again, something that Sans recognised. When he’d first emerged from the Underground, eating was a strangely tiring affair – his body would become so tense from stress and excitement over a meal he’d fall almost immediately unconscious after consuming it.

Something that seemed to translate to this human child – her head nods, body swaying in her seat; before she finally settles against his shoulder, tiny voice sleepily muttering.

“...thank you.”

 

~

 

The journey back to the house is strangely quiet, both brothers seemingly trapped in their thoughts, empty saucepans clanging in their arms. Sans doesn’t even notice the staring humans this time, far more occupied with staring at what he could see of the ground past his cargo.

It’s not until they enter their abode once more, and the many saucepans are set down on the kitchen counter, that Papyrus finally breaks the heavy silence hanging between them.

“...BROTHER.”

Sans lets out a non-committal grunt, opening up the cupboard to begin the arduous task of shoving the saucepans back where they belonged – the one downside to Papyrus’ love of cooking. There was _never_ enough cookware.

“SANS. INSTEAD OF FILLING YOUR NON-EXISTENT EARS WITH THE PLEASING NOTES OF SAUCEPANS BASHING TOGETHER, PLEASE DO ME A FAVOUR AND LOOK AT ME.”

Sans carefully balances the tower of saucepans he’d been meticulously working on, before letting out a low sigh, red orb travelling through the void of his socket to focus on Papyrus; a Papyrus who was wringing his hands again, his expression the mirror image of the one he’d worn that morning when ‘waking’ Sans up.

“…BROTHER. I...I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD MAKE THIS ORPHANAGE CHARITY FEAST A…WEEKLY THING. PERHAPS WE WILL NOT EVEN NEED TO MAKE A FEAST! PERHAPS WE CAN JUST….VISIT?”

The corner’s of Sans’ mouth quirked – of course he’d want to go back, given the reception he’d received. And, of course, Sans was more than happy to grant him that chance – he nodded without hesitation, but soon froze in place when the worry on Papyrus’ features didn’t vanish an ounce.

“AND WHILE WE ARE VISITING, IT GOES TO SAY THAT WE’D SPEAK TO THE HUMANS THERE – OF COURSE WE WOULD! BUT. PERHAPS. WE COULD SPEAK A LITTLE MORE TO…A CERTAIN, MOST TINY HUMAN?”

 

...oh, so _that_ was what he was getting at.

 

“OF COURSE, ALL THE TINY HUMANS DESERVE MY WONDROUS PRESENCE! BUT THIS ONE….PERHAPS DESERVES IT A LITTLE MORE, AND….”

Papyrus huffed, rubbing at his temples for a moment, shaking his head.

“...They Don’t Know How To Take Care Of Something Like That….WE COULD SHOW THEM! WE COULD….Could Make Them Understand...”

Sans simply stared at him for a few moments, Papyrus waiting as patiently as ever for him to get his thoughts into place.

“...no.”

“...NO?”

Sans shook his head slowly, expression bitter.

“...we can’t….do that. they _won’t_ get...it. _can’t_ …get it.”

Papyrus only wrung his hands all the more at that, shoulders hunching in defeat – but Sans wasn’t finished.

“but…but we can….visit them. help them….that way?”

Papyrus immediately brightened, smile practically breaking his repaired jaw.

“YES! YOU ARE QUITE RIGHT BROTHER, THAT SHALL SUFFICE FOR THE MOMENT. NOW!”

Papyrus hurriedly hands him yet another pile of saucepans; without another word, Sans sets himself to adding them to his growing tower, the corners of his mouth twitching as his mind slowly replayed the events that had lead up to this conversation.

That look blank look in her eyes. The way she’d eaten with that familiar, single-mindedness. The bite. The sorrow in her gaze when she’d realised what her body had automatically done.

Sans never thought he’d see the same signs of blind starvation he’d lived with for far too long up on the surface, and yet, here they were.

All he knew was that the moment that girl had rested her head to rest on his shoulder, the apathy he felt had well and truly vanished – because, upon seeing that sorrow once again?

 

...he couldn’t afford not to care.


	2. The Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sans overhears something that makes up his mind...

Four months crawled by sooner than Sans would like to admit – what was that saying? Time flies when you’re having fun?

And strangely, ever since that initial orphanage visit, life _had_ been fun; or rather, a little more busy than the previous monotony they had been faced with beforehand. It had started off slowly, of course – even with how well the children had reacted to Papyrus, the adult humans were still more than a little wary (though Sans had a pretty distinct feeling that was due to his presence rather than Papyrus’), only allowing ‘charitable visits’ to be a weekly thing. But that soon changed as they warmed to Papyrus’ bright demeanour (the same couldn’t be said for Sans, but he was more than used to that response) – weekly visits became twice a week, then three…..then it was simply a thing of the brothers coming whenever they wished, to help in the kitchen or to just spend time with the children.

Which, of course, gave Sans and Papyrus more than ample opportunity to spend some time with the troubled girl they’d met previously.

It had been a pretty rocky start in terms of interaction to begin with; despite her earlier behaviour with the two of them, she had initially clammed up – she didn’t reply when spoken to, didn’t so much as flinch whenever someone approached her. She simply kept that strangely blank expression on her face, eyes glassy and unseeing.

In fact, it seemed that the only thing that roused some sort of reaction was the appearance of food – she would fall upon each plate ravenously, eating far more than one would expect from her tiny stature. But during that small window of time, her gaze would shift and change in response to their words; and even though she didn’t respond for the first few weeks, Sans took comfort in the fact that she wasn’t too far gone yet; he’d seen monsters who never came back to themselves after the trauma of the Underground, who simply couldn’t escape the prison their mind had become.

So, taking this into account, he was pretty damn surprised when she finally spoke to him out of the blue, and alone in his company, no less – all without the presence of food.

 

~

 

“….why.”

Sans had jolted in response to her quiet, tiny voice, the pencil he’d been drawing with skittering across the paper (perhaps he’d be able to play it off as ‘artistic flair’) - he simply stared open-mouthed for a few moments, not even _sure_ he’d actually heard her speak, given the fact she was still staring forwards, expression as stoic as ever….

...but then, she repeated herself.   
“….why.”

He blinked, the red-orb in his socket shrinking down as his expression became increasingly confused.

“...why?….why what?”

“Why are you always here.”

He frowned.

“do….you not like….me being here?”

Her expression changed for the first time; brow puckering with something akin to worry.

“It’s not….it’s not that. I just...”

She nibbled at her lower lip, fingers twitching – it was then and only then that Sans noticed how much she’s bitten her nails; he’d need to have a little ‘talk’ with one of the adult humans later, considering he saw smudges of blood at the edges of those tiny fingertips.

“...I don’t get it. I don’t….the other kids talk more.”

“…m’not good...at talking.”

“…I don’t eat normally.”

“...neither do i.”

“But I’m not….”

When her words simply trail off into silence, Sans sighs; after a quick glance at her expression to check that she was still with him, he answered her silent question.

“...you’re….yourself. you’re….trying, and that’s what….matters. me and my bro….hang out with you...because we want to. we just….wanna help you. really help you. we….we get what it’s like. and you shouldn’t….be alone with that. s’not fair.”

The silence stretched between them as she absorbed his words; but just as he went to pick up his pencil once more, she spoke up again, voice somehow even quieter than before.

“My...my name is Cammy. Um….thank you, Mr. Skeleton.”

Sans had to chuckle at that.

“just….sans is ok with me, kid. and…..over there?….that’s my bro, papyrus.”

The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips – was she happy he’d introduced himself back? Or perhaps she was amused by their names – humans had often commented on how ‘unique’ their names were. All the same, he couldn’t help but grin back; that tiny smile of hers made him feel oddly hopeful.

The rest of his visit was spent in a far more comfortable silence, her eyes actually watching the movements of him continuing to sketch; and when Papyrus eventually came around to check on them, Sans could tell his brother was more than a little ecstatic to see some sort of expression in her normally blank eyes.

 

~

 

And things only seemed to improve from there. Cammy began to offer the smallest of replies when spoken to – while it was never a lot, just a word or two, it was still more than enough for Papyrus and Sans. Food was still a pretty big issue with her, but she seemed far more willing to accept the reassurances that were given to her when she happened to lose herself; or at least, Sans _hoped_ that she did. He’d never been exactly….good with kids, even before his little ‘accident’.

It just plain nonplussed him that Cammy didn’t so much as flinch at his presence, or Papyrus’, for that matter – even the kids who were used to Papyrus seemed to jump every so often when he happened to shout just a touch too loud. Perhaps she was just numb to the majority of things around her….that was the most logical explanation Sans could come up with at this point, in all honesty. Not that he liked that idea in the least. Or perhaps she was-

“Mr. Sans?”

He blinked, red-orb travelling down to focus on her expectant face as she looked up at him curiously.

 

...oh, right. Noughts and crosses.

 

Slowly, his calculative gaze travelled across the paper – and just as slowly, his hand moved to carefully draw a circle in the box he _thinks_ he planned to use next. Cammy seems more than satisfied by his choice, quickly drawing an x, ensuring her win; the smile that appears on her face is by far the largest Sans has seen on her to date (though that probably had something to do with this being her third consecutive win). The smile soon vanished, however, replaced with a tentative stare.  
“...best of 5?”

Funny, she’d said best of three not so long ago.

“...sure, kid.”

He could have sworn she was about to smile again, but that expression was quickly ironed out into blankness as the owner of the orphanage came by…. _what was her name again?_ ….Sans wanted to say Linda, but he wasn’t too sure. The human cast her customary worried glance his way, before summoning her usual ‘smile’ (it was just as fake as ever, much to Sans’ irritation) towards Cammy.

“Hey, sweetie, you mind if I borrow you for a few minutes? There’s some special people I’d like you to meet!”

Cammy got up without complaint, as she always did – Sans always noted with some smugness that she was far more willing to physically answer a question from him or Papyrus, rather than the other humans. But then, in his opinion, Cammy just had some taste.

Still, part of him….just wanted to tell her to sit back down again. As soon as Lydia had mentioned ‘special people’, his soul almost seemed to run cold with dread. Oh, he’d seen enough adoptions in his time here to know what that particular phrase meant.

Laura gave him one last nervous glance before ushering Cammy out of the room; that was another thing he noticed about the other humans around here. Despite Cammy improving as much as she had in the short time span he’d known her, they never touched her, not if they could help it. As if she were dirty to them, or something.

  
_They were the ones who were dirty, disgusting liars-_

 

**Not a good thing. Bad.**

 

He slowly shook off the potentially dark thoughts, instead occupying himself with slouching up to a stand and slowly following to where he knew they set up the viewings, leaving Papyrus to stare after him worriedly; if it was one habit he’d never been able to kick, it was being too nosy for his own good – so of course he’d ‘figured out’ the ins and outs of the orphanage within the first week.

Sure, he knew that Papyrus would reprimand him if he admitted to it (he wasn’t fool enough not to think that Papyrus _hadn’t_ noticed – he was too smart not to), but knowing everything about the place he spent so much time in made him feel….safer.

 

He didn’t _like_ not knowing about things – it was bad enough that he barely remembered the ins and outs that he’d fought so hard to find out in the first place.

 

But luckily, the ‘interview’ room was one of those remembered things; or rather, rooms. It was split off messily into two sections; one part being a kind of ‘play area’ for the potential parents to get to know the kids they’d chosen, the other being where the human adults would discuss things a little more seriously.

Leaning just outside the carelessly left open door, Sans could hear every word as clear as a bell – while he couldn’t see Cammy’s potential parents, he couldn’t say that he liked the sound of their voices; they were sickeningly sweet, screaming a falseness that had his back up immediately.

 

...but perhaps he was just judging them wrong.

 

“Aw, you’re such a shy one, aren’t you, darling?”

Cammy, predictably, remained silent at the woman’s words; a male voice chuckled, appearing not to mind the silence.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that – sometimes these things just take time.”  
  
...perhaps they weren’t so bad.  
  
Lauren coughed from nearby, though Sans could hear the smile in her voice – she was obviously thinking the same as him. Well, that or she was just pleased she wouldn’t have to deal with Cammy anymore – Sans didn’t have all that much faith in her, honestly.

“Well, Cammy, would it be ok with you if we go over here for a second? Won’t be long.”

Silence, as expected.

Regardless, the adult humans seem to take that as more than answer enough, making their way across the room – Sans hears the chairs screech unpleasantly across the cheap flooring as they all sit down, no doubt with coffee, or some other hot beverage – Sans would never understand the appeal.

“...so, where do we sign?! Oh, Jeffrey, I told you she was the one, didn’t I? As soon as I saw her picture, I just knew!”

Sans wrinkled his nasal bone with distaste – ok, he was liking this less now. They’d hardly spent any time with her, hadn’t even spoken with her, yet they were picking her out on appearances alone?

….no, maybe he was wrong, maybe they knew that she had a past, maybe-

“Well, before….before we consider that, I must warn you, she’s been through a lot.”

Huh. What do you know, Louise was exceeding his opinions of her.

“What do you mean, a lot?”

“Oh, the poor darling...has she been through a lot of adoptions, then? Well, we can promise-”

“That’s not what I mean. Cammy is actually a fairly recent addition. She….she’s come from a highly abusive background.”

There was a long, tense pause, and Lana saw fit to continue, albeit hesitantly.

“…we believe she endured heavy emotional abuse, and when she was found...well, it was more than obvious to the police she’d been beaten as well as starved. She’s still recovering, even now.”

“...so she’s not just shy?”

“...no. No, she’s not.”

There was another long silence, during which Sans was silently fuming, for numerous reasons – as happy as he was that Laurel has actually told them the truth, he was more than a little pissed off she did it in a space where Cammy would overhear the whole conversation; it was something that he could never understand, why human adults would act as if children were too dumb to notice things like that. Hell, he couldn’t even say he _liked_ kids, but even he had more sense than that.

...and of course, the other reason he was currently battling his anger was that he’d never actually heard the whole story of Cammy’s past. Sure, he’d known the kid had been through a lot, but…

...actually hearing it out loud, having his worst fears confirmed?

 

_He wanted to hunt down those fuckers that had hurt her, rip them to pieces, show them what real pain was, make them-_

 

**...not...a good...thing. Bad.**

 

He just about managed to smother the volatile remains of his magic, and he was more than glad that he did so, considering what came out from the ‘potential parents’ when they fully absorbed how serious Cammy’s case was.

“Oh….I see. Well, there….are plenty of others, Emily.”

“...I suppose.”

“So you’ve changed your mind about adoption?”

“Ah, well, no, not about adopting. Like he said….there are plenty of others. How about we-”

Sans stomps off with a snarl, barely constraining the urge to rush into the room and give those humans a piece of his mind – no, keeping his cool was imperative in this situation, to the choice he’d suddenly made.

He continued to stomp his way around the building until he finally found Papyrus – his brother was currently sat surrounded by a sea of children as he read from a storybook; Sans’ expression softened somewhat at that.

He used to read to Papyrus like this once, didn’t he?

He thought he did.

“AND SO, THE RAINBOW FISH, DESPITE ONLY HAVING ONE SILVER SCALE LEFT, FOUND OUT WHAT IT MEANT TO BE TRULY HAPPY – BECAUSE HE WAS, AT LAST, SURROUNDED BY MANY WONDERFUL FRIENDS. THE END.”

There was a scattering of applause from the crowd surrounding him, the children giggling amongst themselves as Papyrus stood up to bow; which is when he caught sight of Sans. Having caught his brother’s gaze at last, Sans crooked his finger, indicating he had something to talk about – Papyrus’ expression fell in response, knowing that Sans would never interrupt unless it was something important. Wading through the sea of children (who giggled even more in response, given that Papyrus was exaggerating every movement), Papyrus frowned, opening his mouth to question – but Sans quickly shook his head.

“...not….here. somewhere….quiet.”

“WELL….IF YOU SAY SO, BROTHER.”

Without another word, Papyrus walked from the room, Sans following silently behind; he trusted his brother’s sense of direction far more than he trusted his own, after all. He’d know where a quiet space was.

 

...Sans was not expecting the supply closet, but it worked.

 

Carefully shutting the door behind the two of them, Papyrus crossed his arms, looking down seriously at him, brow-bone furrowed.

“NOW. WHAT’S WRONG? YOU’RE SWEATING, SANS.”

Sans slowly raised a hand to feel his brow – huh, when had that started up? Wordlessly, he wiped it off with his sleeve, making Papyrus wrinkle his nasal bone in faint disgust.

“...sorry….but i made….a choice.”

“...OH? AND THIS CHOICE COULDN’T WAIT UNTIL WE GOT HOME?”

“….no. it’s….important.”

“...IT’S ABOUT TINIEST HUMAN CAMMY, ISN’T IT?”

Sans nodded without hesitation – in any other instance, Papyrus would have been overjoyed, given the fact that he noticed Sans didn’t have to spend time thinking on the action; but at the present moment of time, he was more concerned by this confirmation than anything else.

“OH NO! IS SHE ALRIGHT? THEY DIDN’T TRY TO FEED HER THOSE-”

“no….no. but she’s….i hope she’s alright. they….adoptive parents….came to see her.”

“….Ah.”

Papyrus fidgeted in place, frowning as he thought that over.

“…When Will She...”

“...she’s...not going anywhere. they….didn’t want her. b-bastards...she was...s-still in the room-”

Sans jolts as Papyrus plants his hands down heavily upon his shoulders, his sunken sockets full of worry.

“..Sans, It Will All Be Alright. Calm Down. Breathe.”

Sans obeyed, unfurling his hands – he hadn’t realised they’d grown so tense. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, just as he’d been taught to. When Papyrus was sufficiently satisfied Sans had calmed down enough, he squeezed his brother’s shoulders comfortingly.

“Now. WHAT ELSE?”

“...what….else?”

“I KNOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING ELSE ON YOUR MIND, BROTHER. OUT WITH IT.”

Sans took a moment, blinking up at Papyrus, before answering hesitantly.

“...i...we should...adopt her. no-one….else gets her, pap. she….i wanna….make sure she’s….happy. healthy. she….deserves to be.”

Papyrus simply stares down at him for a few moments – before letting out the loudest of squeals, releasing Sans’ shoulders in favour of bouncing on the spot.

“YES! OH GODS, YOU’VE FINALLY SAID IT. YES, YES, WE NEED TO ADOPT HER!”

“...you...already wanted to?”

Papyrus gave him a look that practically screamed ‘duh’, hands planted on his hips.

“OF COURSE? HOW COULD I NOT? THOSE HUMANS ARE CLEARLY DELUDED – AS MUCH AS I LOVE ALL THE TINY HUMANS HERE, CAMMY IS….”

Papyrus thought for a moment, scratching at the back of his skull.

“...I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. IT’S A LITTLE LIKE HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU, BUT….MORE. NOT MORE IMPORTANT! BUT….MORE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?”

“….yeah, i….think i do.”

There was a moment of thoughtful silence between the two of them, before Sans jumped as Papyrus suddenly clapped his hands in a business-like fashion.

“RIGHT! WELL, THAT’S DECIDED. WE MAY NOW EXIT THE DISCUSSION CLOSET.”

Sans had to smirk at that.

“...discussion….closet?”

“YES. THAT’S WHAT THIS IS. NOW, COME ON, GET OUT. WE HAVE BUSINESS ELSEWHERE, SANS.”

“...you...think they’ll….let us?”

Now it was time for Papyrus to smirk.

“OF COURSE, THEY’VE GOT NO REASON NOT TO. THEY KNOW WE’RE TRUSTWORTHY, THAT WE HAVE A DECENT HOME, A DECENT INCOME….AND MONSTERS HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS HUMANS. NOW, LIKE I SAID – EXIT THE DISCUSSION CLOSET! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR DISCUSSING, SANS! NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION!”

 

~

 

“...and you’re absolutely sure about this?”

“UNDOUBTEDLY!”

Lucy gave them both a long, hard look, before sighing, leaning back in her chair.

“Well….she does seem to like you both far more than anyone else she’s interacted with…and I suppose you’re both fully aware she….has a past.”

“OF COURSE! WHO DOESN’T HAVE ONE?”

Lillian didn’t answer that, choosing instead to frown, clearly thinking it over.

“If...you’re sure. And you _both_ want this?”

Sans knows that she’s referring to him; he openly glares in response.

“….listen, liana-”

“It’s Eve.”

 

...well, fuck, he couldn’t have gotten that more wrong.

 

“...eve. cammy is….important to….both of us. we just….want the best….for her. And...i think we can give her that.”

‘Eve’ continued to stare at him, for once not buckling under his glare – before shock rocketed through him, given the fact that she was actually smiling in response to his words.

“...I see. Well...”

She looked over to Cammy, who was still sat obediently in the ‘play area’ section of the interview room, gaze uncharacteristically bright as she listened carefully to every word.

“...how do you feel about that, Cammy? Are you happy to be adopted by Papyrus and...Sans?”

Her gaze seemed to almost become brighter still, mouth opening in shock, seemingly – before she hurriedly nodded her head.

“...yes. Yes please!”

The owner of the orphanage smiled all the wider at that, before taking some papers out of a file nearby.

“Well, that’s that, then. If you’ll just sign here-”

“wait….wait. it….there’s got to be….more?”

“Of course there is. We’ll have to conduct a homestudy, which will involve someone coming around to view and assess your property – but considering the….circumstances, I’m sure you have a more than substantial home.”

Which was another way of saying the government was, of course, obligated to ensure monsters were given decent homes. Once again, Sans found himself grateful for that particular fact – and now not only for Papyrus’ sake.

“Then you’ll need to complete something called the ICPC process – which will begin first with signing a few documents, then those will be sent off to court to be reviewed...”

“HOW LONG WILL THAT TAKE?”

“Not too long. At the longest around 14 days – then you can take Cammy to your home, as long as the previous steps go well. Of course, after that you’ll have to get through the Post Placement Period, which could be as long as 18 months-”

“OH...”

“-but after that, when Cammy is sure she’s comfortable and happy, the process is fairly simple. You’ll go to court for a finalisation hearing, and then you’ll be given permanent legal custody.”

Sans gave her a rather suspicious glance, red-orb focusing on her features – he didn’t trust that overly cheerful tone one bit.

“...and...we’ll be….treated as any other….adoptive parents?”

She blinked, clearly surprised but how bold his question was – but he certainly wasn’t about to allow this _human_ to treat-

“Of course you will. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re monster or human.”

...this only made him all the more suspicious, given her past behaviour.

“Besides….Cammy is a special case. I don’t….feel as if we can offer her what she needs. But I _do_ feel that you can – I’ve seen more than enough proof of that while you’ve been here. I’ve worked and owned this establishment for quite some time….and I’ve seen a lot of happy, successful families in that time. I wouldn’t allow this if I didn’t believe in it.”

 

...Sans could sense the truth in those words.

 

After a pause of simply staring Eve down, he nodded his head; giving him a quick, hesitant grin, she slid the papers in her hands a little closer to them. Papyrus eagerly read them over, humming thoughtfully as he took in the information.

“DO YOU….THINK THEY’LL THINK THE SAME? IN THIS ‘COURT’ OF YOURS.”

“...my opinion has more sway in those decisions than you’d think, believe me. I will do all I can to make sure Cammy is in a place that she feels safe and happy – just as you will, I believe.”

With another smile to the two of them, she carefully slid a pen across the table.

 

“Now then….let’s begin the proceedings, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :'3  
> My Tumblr: crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> My Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas  
> Also have a chill discord! Feel free to ask for a link if you want it! ^-^  
> Aaaand....every Saturday, I do a gaming stream! It's around 9:30pm (French time), so feel free to drop in if you're in the mood! :3 : https://www.twitch.tv/crusnikroxas

**Author's Note:**

> :'3  
> My Tumblr: crusnikroxas.tumblr.com/  
> My Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrusnikRoxas  
> Also have a chill discord! Feel free to ask for a link if you want it! ^-^


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